Fuel to the Fire
by Nimue Redfern
Summary: Xalaria wakes up with no memories, alarmed to find people want her dead, others think it's good she has amnesia. She must find out what happened and why before disaster occurs.
1. Default Chapter

Title: Fuel to the Fire  
Author: Nimue Redfern   
Email: bloodoftin@yahoo.co.uk   
Spoilers: Night World, all books and basic concepts  
Disclaimers: Recognised characters and concepts of the Night World series belong to LJS and are being used for fun only. Any unrecognised characters and plotlines are mine.  
Rating: pg-13 (some language, not much)   
Summary: Xalaria wakes up with no memories, alarmed to find people want her dead, others think it's good she has amnesia. She must find out what happened and why before disaster occurs.  
Notes: feedback appreciated.  
  
Part 1  
  
"As far as I'm concerned, it's a *good* thing."  
  
"Are you *insane?* Do you know who that is?"  
  
The girl heard the voice clear enough, one male, one female. The words, though, didn't make sense. The girl seemed angsty, the boy callous and dismissive. What the big deal was, she really didn't know.  
  
Her eyes were fluttering again, the darkness closing her in, trying to swallow her up. Some dark emptiness she had been fighting against for the last hour or so. Now she had finally made it to the light she didn't want to let go.  
  
"Listen," the guy again. "She came to for a few minutes the other day. She doesn't even remember what her name is."  
  
She had a vague recollection of that - calling out in alarm at the sudden discovery she didn't know who she was. How could that *be* - just waking up one day and not remembering who you were? Freaky didn't even begin to describe the way she was feeling.  
  
"How does that benefit us? They'll be *looking* for her."   
  
"And we convince her she's one of us and not one of them."  
  
One of who? She had no idea what the hell was going on. She tried to take in her surroundings. A large bedroom, picture windows, big wooden writing desk, large matching chest of draws and wardrobe, along with beside tables with gold lamps on. A real chandelier was hanging from the ceiling. Someone rich owned this house.  
  
She struggled out of bed and wandered over to the picture windows, looking out onto nicely manicured lines below. She caught a glimpse of her reflection in the window. Her skin seemed unnaturally white with an almost pasty glow to it, there were dark circles under her hazel eyes, smoky black hair cascaded around her shoulders. That's me? she thought, turning away with a shudder.  
  
She paced around, not really knowing what else to do with herself. The voices she had heard earlier seemed to have stopped talking now. Had she heard them at all, she wondered.  
  
Oh God, this was an absolute *nightmare*. She opened the door, peering out into the hallway. Even if she did leave, where, exactly, could se go? Maybe if I start exploring then I'll find something, a landmark or a face I might recognise.  
  
With a deep breath, she slipped out of the room and down the hallway. Nothing was familiar. The same wealthy décor as in her room was everywhere. She made her way cautiously down a staircase.  
  
Across the entrance hall she could see the front door, an unusual stained glass design of a black rose stood out. The black rose sent a chill down her spine she didn't understand. Wandering aimlessly she still hadn't seen any *people* yet. They can't all have disappeared or just not *be* here, she thought absently.  
  
"Hey!"  
  
A slightly surprised and angry voice to her left got her attention. She turned to see a pretty blonde girl giving her an incredibly dirty glare. "This is *my* ground," she hissed angrily. "My assignment."  
  
"Excuse me? Who are you?"  
  
The blonde girl laughed harshly. "You're kidding me, right?"  
  
She gestured helplessly. "No."  
  
The blonde peered at her critically. "Do you even know your own name?"  
  
"No." She averted her eyes quickly, feeling ashamed.   
  
"I don't fucking believe this,. So-called top of the crop and she doesn't even know her own name." Her tone was cruel - and amused.   
  
She knew immediately she didn't like this girl. From the sound of it, this girl was up to no good here. "Who *are* you?" She wouldn't ask the blonde who she herself was. She doubted the answer she'd get would be the truth.  
  
"It's not important." The blonde walked away with a satisfied smirk.   
  
With a sigh she waited a few minutes, then walked in, peering into each lavishly decorated room she passed.  
  
"Yes Sir, it's Xalaria Redfern, we're certain of it." She paused at a set of double doors, hearing the same female voice that had been outside her room.   
  
Is that my name? Xalaria Redfern? She thought. How odd.  
  
"And according to Quinn she has amnesia." A different male voice, calm with a note of authority.  
  
"Yes. He seems to think of it as a benefit to us."  
  
"You, I think he might be right."  
  
"I still think it's dangerous and wrong to manipulate someone's mind. Even a bitch like her."  
  
Xalaria was embarrassed, getting the uncomfortable impression she wasn't well-liked here. It clearly wasn't her regular home. She was at a total loss what to do, and could feel hot tears burning her eyes.  
  
"We should have killed them all." The girl again. Harsh and cold.  
  
"Who else escaped?"  
  
"Sharlene Weald and Ricco Blackthorn."  
  
"Damn. I guess there's a team hunting them?"  
  
"Yes. Jez and Morgead are hunting them even as we speak."  
  
"Good. When Xalaria comes to, send her to me. Then *I'll* decide what we do with her. *You* are not to do anything."  
  
There was a couple of minutes of tense silence.  
  
"Rashel, do you understand? You are *not* to hurt her."  
  
"Yes, Sir." Forced politeness.  
  
Xalaria hurried away. She took several deep breaths, then sat on the bottom of the stairs, head in her hands.   
  
"Xalaria, what are you doing here?"  
  
Xalaria looked up, seeing a gorgeous Asian-American boy in front of her. Unlike the mean blonde, or 'Rashel', his tone held concern, and something else - hope, maybe? Large dark eyes studied her.  
  
"I don't know," she admitted, tired of sounding like a broken record. "Who are you?"  
  
The boy blinked in surprise. "I heard a rumour they'd found an assassin with no memory. I never imagined it would be you."  
  
Assassin? That didn't sound too appealing to Xalaria. Didn't assassins kill people for a living?  
  
Xalaria looked at him, beginning to wish she had given into unconsciousness earlier. "I have no idea what you're talking about."  
  
The boy smiled dryly. "Of course you wouldn't." His expression was becoming sly and calculating.  
  
Xalaria threw her hands up. "This is getting annoying. I can't get a fucking straight answer!"  
  
"It's kind of awkward. Technically, you're one of the bad guys."  
  
"What, and you're one of the good guys and we had something going for a while but decided because of our separate loyalties not to pursue it?"  
  
The boy blinked. "Good for someone with amnesia."  
  
Xalaria stood up. "Can you at least tell me your name?"  
  
"Tristan Abforth."  
  
Didn't mean anything to Xalaria. So she was stuck in some war between good-guys and bad guys. It sounded kind of amusing. Finding out what was going was going to be - well - extremely interesting.  
  
* * * 


	2. Part 2

Part 2  
  
"Where the hell is she?" Sharlene looked over her shoulder at the flaming building. How anyone could make it out of there alive was unknown to her, hence the whole point of blowing it up.  
  
"I thought she was with you." Ricco snapped from the passenger seat, straining to look out the window of their getaway car.  
  
"No." Sharlene cursed under her breath as she manoeuvred her car through the stilling traffic in the busy city centre. This was a disaster.  
  
"Do we even know if she made it out the building?" Ricco turned around, shoulders slumping.  
  
Sharlene shrugged. "I don't know. I did my part, we separated from her so she could do hers."  
  
"If Xalaria is dead, then so are we, you know."  
  
"Shut up! It wasn't our fault. We don't know she's dead," Sharlene snapped. How could this have happened? She wanted to prove herself to the council, show them she had what it takes to be an assassin.  
  
The new council head of the Redferns, oldest vampire on record after Hunter Redfern had died seemed distrustful of new recruits.  
  
Sharlene was irritated, but guessed she understood. After all, Hunter's ticket to control to ruling the human world after the millennium battle had turned on him and destroyed him.   
  
So the new Redfern leader had decided to pair her up with Ricco, a made vampire, and his favourite assassin Xalaria Redfern. The task itself was completed successfully, the required targets dead. Only Xalaria was missing.  
  
And if they didn't find her, or have a decent explanation for what had happened to her, then they might as well sat sayonara to any hopes of power.   
  
"How could you let this happen?" Ricco grumbled angrily.  
  
"How could *I*?" Sharlene found herself glaring furiously at the heavy San Francisco traffic. "You're just as responsible as I am." She sighed, coming to a halt in a traffic jam. "Look, for all we know, Xalaria made it out fine. She could have had something else to do afterwards." Though a gnawing at her insides was telling her that was highly unlikely. "Call her cell phone."  
  
Ricco shrugged, and did. After a few minutes he shook his dark head. "Nothing. She's not answering." He left a quick message and hung up.  
  
Sharlene frowned, tapping her fingers on the steering wheel. "We have to meet with one of Unas's contacts in an hour." She knew going back to the building so soon after blowing it up would be stupid. The place would be crawling with cops and TV media circuses by now.  
  
She was too tense to want to be sitting still in a traffic jam that wasn't moving an inch right now. The longer she kept still, the more she kept thinking about what would happen to them if Xalaria was really dead.  
  
"Things could brighten up," Ricco said reasonably.  
  
Sharlene snorted, wishing she could share his optimism.   
  
* * *  
  
Neve just couldn't believe her good fortune. It was hard to keep a blank expression and not dance around with wicked joy. Oh, this was good. This was better than good. Xalaria Redfern with amnesia.  
  
"Pinch me, I'm dreaming," she said gleefully, eyes closed. She stood on one of the upper balconies, over looking the pool area of the mansion where most of the Daybreakers staying there were hanging around below, soaking up the desert sun.   
  
"I don't see why you're so thrilled about this."  
  
"Oh don't be a spoil sport." Neve pouted at her partner and co-conspirator Linus Blackthorn, head tilted.  
  
Linus just eyed her critically. "So she has amnesia. What's the big deal here?"  
  
Neve's eyes rolled. Linus was cute, but very dim. He had that blond haired blue eyed All American thing working for him, enhanced with vampiric beauty. He could draw you into him with a simple look, and you'd be hopelessly under his spell. He'd wormed his way into the Night World, as had Neve, both working as spies rather than assassins.  
  
Their task was supposed to be trying to figure out how to bring Circle Daybreak down from within. So far they had come up with very little. Normally, when there were problems with Daybreakers, before Neve could do anything about it, that bitch Xalaria beat her to it.  
  
How was she supposed to claim power if that slut kept getting in the way? So desperate for her name to be known, she'd found herself working for an anonymous figure on the side of her regular job who claimed she was more powerful than the Council or Circle Daybreak together. Now with Xalaria out of the way, it was her ticket to being top for both parties.   
  
Of course, she couldn't tell Linus about her other contact, without breaking privacy agreements. ~Crap~ she thought, knowing she had to tone down her glee.  
  
"I have issues with her," she said finally, watching him for a reaction.  
  
Linus's eyes rolled and he shrugged carelessly. "Whatever." There was a noticeable curling of contempt to his upper lip, and a roll of his eyes. Neve wondered what he meant, but didn't question him. "According to Rashel, she's supposed to be meeting with Thierry later."  
  
"What?" Xalaria was already known and an established threat to the Daybreakers. Once she was recognised, she would be killed. Killed or locked up. Not wandering around where she'd be free to meet with Thierry himself.   
  
"Thierry's supposed to be assessing her mental condition, then coming up with a solution."  
  
Neve shook her head, fury boiling inside her. She had to control herself not to break something, not with all those people down there, where anyone could look up and see her. "That's insane!"  
  
"Rashel's no happier than you are, apparently." Linus was grinning oddly.  
  
"What's so fucking funny?" Neve snapped, glaring at him.  
  
"It's not worth explaining," he said with a snicker. And left her alone.  
  
Neve stared after him in disbelief, not sure what was going on. Her good mood was completely dampened. She scowled, heading down to the gym to work off some of her anger. She just had to think of plan.  
  
* * * 


	3. Part 3

Part 3  
  
Xalaria sat nervously in Lord Thierry's office, annoyed that she couldn't think of anything to say that wouldn't be stating the obvious. "How do you feel?" Lady Hannah asked.  
  
Xalaria didn't understand how a girl who looked no older than she did was second in command of this Circle Daybreak thing. It didn't make sense. It struck her as weird there were no adults about. Not necessarily a bad thing, just odd.  
  
"How do you think I feel?" Xalaria snapped. "I wake up one morning and don't recognise my own face when I see it. How would *you* feel?"  
  
"There's no need for being waspish," Thierry cut in before Hannah could reply. His dark eyes bored into Xalaria. She didn't understand what he was trying to get from her.   
  
She had decided not to mention either of the people she had run into earlier, not the nasty blonde girl or the gorgeous guy. She didn't understand either of them, the girl particularly. What was her problem, anyway? Something inside was telling her it was smart not to say anything until she knew more.  
  
"We know this is difficult for you," Thierry was going on. "We ourselves are in a dangerous predicament with your situation."  
  
Xalaria sighed, wishing he would stop sugar coating and tell her what was really going on. "I'm getting the idea there's something you're not telling me." She sat back in the chair he'd provided for her, folding her arms indignantly.  
  
"We don't want to upset you," Hannah said reassuringly.  
  
Xalaria sighed again rolled her eyes. She remembered the boy, Tristan, had said something about her being some sort of assassin. ^You mean you don't want to piss me off and make me kill you^ she thought.   
"I'd rather have the truth," she said. "I don't need people messing with my head right now."  
  
Hannah and Thierry exchanged glances. Hannah's deep grey eyes were worried, her expression grave, but she nodded. Thierry turned back to Xalaria. "All right - the truth is, you're a cold blood killer. You work for the Night World Council, our greatest enemy. We've wanted you out the picture for quite some time." He had already told her about the purpose of Circle Daybreak, and the Night World, the good guys vs. the bad guys thing she had picked up on earlier. From what she had been told Circle Daybreak were the good guys, a group of humans and supernatural beings trying to stop the nastier monsters from ruling the world.  
  
She had decided it best not to make any comments. So she was one of the bad guys and the good guys couldn't decide if they should keep her and train her to fight with them, or kill her for the safety of the humans.  
  
"Oh." She thought about what she had gathered on meeting Tristan, something to do with the two of them being involved. Maybe he could help her figure out more. "So what are you going to do?"  
  
"That's what we're trying to figure out." Thierry pushed a button. "You can send them in now."  
  
"Send who in?"  
  
"Your guards," Hannah was almost smirking. "We can't have you running around loose."  
  
Xalaria dreaded to think who was coming in. ^Let it be Tristan,^ she thought. At least he seemed to like her, if no one else did. ^Is this what they call karma?^ she wondered.  
  
Unfortunately Tristan wasn't one of the guards, but at least it was neither the blonde bitch, or the other girl, Rashel, she'd overheard and glimpsed earlier, who for some unknown reason seemed to have it in for her.   
  
One of the two was a fairly handsome, all American blond haired blue eyed guy, the other a girl, with a cap of almost white hair, eyes an unusually vivid violet.  
  
"This is Linus Blackthorn and Gillian Lennox. You don't go anywhere without them," Thierry said. "Is that clear?"  
  
Xalaria grunted, nodding and following the guards out. Linus...the name was vaguely familiar to her. Their eyes met briefly and he smiled quizzically at her.  
  
^Who are you?^ she thought.  
  
* * * 


	4. Part 4

Part 4  
  
A fine sheen of sweat coated Neve's forehead as she sat down on a bench, breathing deeply after her workout. She felt no less pissed off than when she'd started.  
  
"What's eating you?" Rashel had been in the gym was well, battling the punching bag and sparring with one of the trainers.  
  
"Issues," Neve answered.  
  
"Issues, by any chance, regarding this ridiculous thing with Xalaria Redfern?"  
  
Neve didn't want to get into her reasons for why she hated Xalaria. Rashel just seemed to despise anyone who came from the Night World Council. She needed to watch herself, make sure she didn't let anything slip.  
  
"I don't understand that," she said finally. "Isn't she supposed to be - "  
  
"A dangerous psychotic bitch," Rashel said, grabbing a weight from the rack and starting to life it, one foot resting on the bench beside Neve.  
  
"And Thierry's letting her wander around free and not killing her."  
  
"He's assigned bodyguards to make sure she doesn't do anything."  
  
"Why'd you hate her so much, anyway?"  
  
Rashel put the weight back. "My reasons," she said, and walked away, calmness clearly forced. Neve shrugged, not really getting it herself, and walked to her room to take a shower. There was a message on her desk reading 8pm. Paris Paris. Effile Tower. Her contact tended to like to meet in the Vegas hotels. They were so crowded with such a diverse range of people it should be impossible to spot them.   
  
Linus was knocking on her open door. "I'm one of the guards," he told her.  
  
Neve nodded. "Okay." She headed to her wardrobe, looking for something to wear.  
  
"Okay? That's it?"  
  
She pulled out a plain black dress with spaghetti straps, then a bright pink one with a glittery bust. "Yeah. What'd you want me to say?"  
  
"Where are you going?"  
  
"Vegas."  
  
"Oh." Linus turned and left, closing the door behind him.  
  
Neve stared after him for a few seconds, then swapped the pink dress for a lime green one of the same design. She slipped out of the mansion later that evening, heading through the tourists pausing to watch the dancing water display outside the Bellagio hotel before crossing the Strip and heading over to Paris Paris.  
  
She scowled a little at the queue waiting for the Eiffel Tower look out post. Was she supposed to go up or what? //Go up,// her contact's mental voice told her. //It's safer up there.// Neve winced, she wasn't all that crazy about heights. The wait was about fifteen minutes to get to the lift. She closed her eyes as it went up, trying to prepare herself for the platform at the top. It was such a pathetic thing that heights scared her. She tried not to look down, focusing on the spectacular view of the Vegas lights after dark across the desert than looking down.   
  
"There's an unconfirmed rumour that Xalaria Redfern is missing," her contact said.  
  
Neve nodded, folding her arms across her chest. "Yeah, she's at the mansion with amnesia."  
  
"Amnesia. That's...interesting."  
  
"Linus is one of the guards. I'll be killing the bitch shortly."  
  
"You'll do no such thing."  
  
"What?" Neve turned to glare at her contact, eyes flashing with anger. All she needed was Xalaria Redfern out the way then she'd get her glory.   
  
"You will bring her to me."  
  
"I don't understand. I thought we'd *agreed* - "   
  
"We agreed I would help you achieve the wealth and power you deserve. This will help you with that."  
  
Neve scowled. That wasn't exactly what she'd been thinking she'd do. She had been so *pleased* when she'd learned Xalaria had amnesia. This had been her chance. Only now everything was spoiled. "You want me to bring Xalaria to you."  
  
"Yes. What are Thierry's orders?"  
  
"She's staying alive for the time being. She has two guards, one is Linus Blackthorn."  
  
"He works with you."  
  
"Yes."  
  
"All right. Just make sure you bring Xalaria Redfern to me." The contact walked away, stepping into the lift, and was gone. Neve sighed, and stood in line for the next one.   
  
* * *  
  
"I knew I never liked her." Maggie watched Neve stepping into the lift.  
  
Delos frowned. "Do you know who she was speaking with?"  
  
Maggie shook her head. "How am I supposed to know?" She couldn't believe it. Neve was some sort of spy for a secret Night World organisation, clearly not the Council, Xalaria was one of their favourites, and she was trapped inside the Daybreak house with no memories. "If only we could find Xalaria a Daybreak soulmate who can make her good."  
  
"You can't *find* someone a soulmate," Delos said, smiling a little. "But we know something Thierry will be very interested to hear."  
  
* * * 


	5. Part 5

Part 5  
  
He wondered what he'd done to deserve treatment like this. He wanted to be famous. He wanted his name to be known and feared amongst the Night World ranks. He wanted those idiot Daybreakers to tremble in fear at the thought of him. Was that really too much to ask?  
  
He'd seen people do it before, impressed the Council with their wit, their charm, cruelty, efficiency, whatever it was they had to offer that made them special. Some stayed, some flounced away with their soulmates, some simply disappeared.  
  
He'd been around since the beginning, he'd witnessed the battle between Maya and Hellewise and seen the rise and fall of the Night World through to the Burning Times, and the modern world now.   
  
And no one remembered him, no one even recognised him. He was just another attractive vampire, an errand boy for Unas Bloodcreek, some rich vampire who had no right to control the Council like he did. Now he was stuck meeting with the two new assassins Sharlene and Ricco, looking like they wanted the ground to open up and swallow them whole.  
  
"Xalaria Redfern is missing," he repeated. Xalaria was Unas's latest toy. She did what he wanted, no matter what, like she was nothing more than a beautiful robot. Unas was going to be *furious*.  
  
"She never came out of the building," Ricco said, staring at his feet. "She was supposed to back up Sharlene."  
  
"She was *supposed* to watch you as well. We did the job and made the get away." Sharlene, at least, had the guts to look him in the eyes. "I thought she was right behind me."  
  
He didn't know what to make of any of this. Maybe they were pissed off and jealous of Xalaria so they had killed her. Maybe there had been an unexpected attack and Xalaria had been killed in the line of fire. Maybe Xalaria had been killed in the blast that blew up the building. Or maybe she'd done the unthinkable, found a soulmate and run off to Circle Daybreak.  
  
"So basically, we have absolutely no idea where Xalaria is."  
  
Neither said anything. He sighed heavily. It was almost as bad as talking to two petty teenagers who had just been caught smoking. They were terrified of what Unas would do when he found out they had lost his puppy.  
  
"We've left three messages on her cell phone, two on her home phone and have asked around, no one knows," Sharlene said.  
  
"So what are we going to do then?" He looked at them.  
  
They shrugged. He wondered if torturing them would make them talk anymore. He missed the Dark Ages, they had some of the best torture toys. Anyway, at least this whole mess wasn't his fault.  
  
"I guess we could ask a witch," Ricco said finally. "Some have the powers to find people. Clairvoyants, divination, you know."  
  
"And you know this, how?" Sharlene asked, scowling at him.  
  
Ricco smiled, showing his teeth. "I'm sleeping with one."  
  
His eyes rolled. For some reason he was neither surprised nor impressed in the slightest, but considering it was the only plan they had at the moment, it was better than nothing. "Call your witch then."  
  
"Are you going to tell Unas?" Sharlene asked. She was moving closer to him, two crimson fingernails walking up his arm. She was smiling coyly. "I'd be more than happy to show our appreciation if you don't."  
  
He had to keep himself from laughing. Was this the best she could do? He pushed her hand away. "Think of something else," he sneered. "For now, I'll keep this between us. I'll contact you again in two days time." He walked away, leaving them to ponder their next move.  
  
He could always find Xalaria himself, but what good would that do? Unas needed to be removed from the Council. He couldn't care less if Xalaria was dead. He had his own problems, namely Unas and how to get rid of him.  
  
* * * 


	6. Part 6

Part 6   
  
Xalaria was becoming increasingly annoyed trying to figure out what was worse - having no idea who she was, or her irritating bodyguards. Linus barely said a word, where Gillian couldn't seem to shut up, talking constantly about how her life had changed since she'd met her soulmate.  
  
"So Amy finally broke up with Eugene, Darryl hooked her up with some French guy, then I heard the other day that Tanya Jun was arrested for possession of illegal drunks." She sounded rather smug about that.  
  
Xalaria wondered why the hell she should care. "Why are you telling me all this crap?" she snapped.  
  
Gillian looked over at her, surprised. "Well - we - we thought telling you about our normal lives might help you remember something about your own."  
  
Xalaria snorted. From what she had gathered, these people didn't *want* her remembering. Most of the people she had met seemed nice enough, but it soon became obvious the politeness was forced.  
  
These people were *afraid* of her. It was such a peculiar feeling to know that people were scared of her. It certainly didn't give her any good feelings, she just felt even more uncomfortable.  
  
"Listen, if you want to help, go and find Tristan Abforth for me," Xalaria said. "He spoke to me when I was wandering around after I woke up. He seemed to actually know me."  
  
Gillian turned to look at Linus. "I'll go shall I?"  
  
He just shrugged. "Whatever."  
  
Gillian glanced at him again, seeming kind of nervous, then hurried away. Linus breathed a huge sigh of relief. "Thank God for that. You need a switch on that girl to shut her up. I heard before she found her soulmate she barely said a word."  
  
It was Xalaria's turn to shrug. They were sitting in her room, as she had tired of endless stares and whispering at the poolside.   
  
"Someone had better get word to Unas that you're still alive," Linus said.  
  
Xalaria snorted. "Who's Unas?"  
  
"The guy you work for. Sooner we get you to him, the better."  
  
"Oh." So from what she figured out, this guy was some sort of spy for this Unas person. Had he deliberately tried to get the bodyguard job? "How do we get out?"  
  
"Well, I guess I'll have to talk to Neve. Then again, I don't know how happy she'll be." There was a slight spark of amusement dancing in his blue eyes.   
  
Xalaria remembered the bitchy blonde who had refused to give her name, whining that Xalaria was on her turf. "How am I going to get past Thierry and everyone?"   
  
Linus shrugged. "We'll have to work that one out."  
  
There was a knock on the door. Xalaria drew in a deep breath. She didn't know what to expect, even if Tristan was willing to talk to her. "Can I talk to him alone?"  
  
Linus shrugged a third time. "I guess. We'll be right outside."  
  
Xalaria remained where she was on the window seat, waiting nervously. She was getting pretty tired of having no idea what to expect. She was beginning to believe that having no memory was far more work than actually having one. If you *had* a memory, then you didn't have to think so hard about what your life might really be like. You didn't have to be afraid of what you might turn out to be.  
  
Tristan finally came in. They just looked at each other for what seemed like a very long time to Xalaria. "I didn't expect you call this soon," he said.   
  
"Well, I didn't really know what else to do. You actually seem to like me." She wondered if that were actually true. Then again, he had told her they had been *involved* at some point. Involved in what, was what she wanted to know.   
  
"It's kind of awkward," he said. "What do you know about yourself?"  
  
"I know that I'm an assassin, I work for a man named Unas, everyone here seems scared of me, Rashel hates me and so does someone called Neve."  
  
An expression of surprise crossed Tristan's handsome features. "Unas who?"  
  
Xalaria shook her head. "I didn't catch his last name." She decided it would be smart not to mention that Linus was the one who had told her.   
  
He sat on the edge pf the bed. "How'd you hear that?"  
"I overheard some people talking, I didn't get a look at who, I heard them from round a corner." A reasonable lie. Xalaria was disturbed at how easy it was. "So tell me about us."  
  
Tristan smiled. "It's kind of a weird thing. I was hired to take you down. I was a spy on your group, when I went to seduce you we discovered our soulmate connection. Soulmates is - "  
  
"I know," Xalaria cut him off. She didn't feel like listening to the explanation again. She hadn't thought she'd have one of her own. From what she'd been told it sounded like it took a touch to spark the whole thing off. She wasn't sure if she was ready for it yet.  
  
"Anyway, neither of us were very pleased at who I was. We decided to call it quits, faked my death to the Night World council, then I came back to Daybreak."  
  
"And they just accepted you failed?"  
  
Tristan nodded. She got the impression there was something else he wasn't telling her. She couldn't really explain why she felt that way, so for now, she decided to keep her mouth shut.  
  
"Some blonde named Neve seems to despise me," she said, deciding to change the subject. "When I first woke up and was wandering around I ran into her, and she seemed furious that I was on her turf."  
  
"Neve Winterson," Tristan told her. "Vamp/witch half breed. I'm not to sure on who she is."  
  
"How come Rashel hates me as well?"  
  
Tristan shook his head, black hair falling across his eyes. He stood up and started to move over to her. Xalaria felt her skin begin to tingle. "I don't know. I sort of keep my distance from you, at your request," he told her.  
  
Xalaria stood up, moving away from him before he could touch her. She glared at him, not sure what else to do. "Okay, thanks. You can go away now."  
  
He looked hurt, then sighed and nodded. "Fine." He left the room.  
  
Xalaria felt relief washing over her once he was gone. She was also glad to finally be alone for once. She was sick of being cooped up. She wanted to get out of the mansion, without her bodyguards following.   
  
She got up and pressed her ear against the door. She could hear Gillian's voice talking with Tristan. Then she walked back to the window that opened. It wasn't *that* far to the ground. And she was a vampire, after all.   
  
Telling herself not to think about it, she sat on the windowsill and dropped to the ground below, bending her knees and landing neatly like a cat. She slipped in and out of shadows, looking for a back exit, dodging people and staff, and finally managing to find one. Allowing herself a satisfied smirk, she ran though.  
  
* * * 


	7. Part 7

Part 6  
  
"Did you hear about Xalaria?" Andromeda asked, leaning back in the seat. She smiled at a group of guys walking past their table.  
  
Cadence sighed, the last thing she wanted to talk about was Xalaria Redfern. If something bad had happened to her, then all the better. She took a swig of her drink. The hotel was full of people, despite only being two in the afternoon. Andromeda had insisted they needed a break and a refresh. So far Cadence had seen no one appetising enough to catch her eye. Sometime, she thought the problem with Las Vegas, was there was too *many* people.  
  
"No, but I suppose you're going to tell me."  
  
"Amnesia, and 'rescued' by the Daybreakers," Andromeda snickered. She picked up a metal ashtray and began admiring her reflection, which was a perfectly normal thing for her to do. Oval shaped face with its' smooth creamy white skin, large soulful dark eyes outlined in black liner. Gentle back locks falling to her shoulders, full red lips curved in a mean smile. "Imagine how Unas is going to react."  
  
"How did you hear about this, anyway?" Cadence asked. Andromeda often managed to get useless facts from various sources. This was probably the only remotely interesting news she had come up with in the eight months they were working together.  
  
"Ricco. Unas doesn't know and they need the powers of yours truly to try and find her." Andromeda smiled proudly.   
  
"Oh." Cadence's eyes looked around the crowd again. She couldn't even begin to imagine what that must be like, not having any memories and being stuck with a group of people who were really your enemies. "Well, she deserves it."  
  
She'd worked since she was fifteen to get a reputation like the one Xalaria Redfern had. And she got it just because she happened to be pretty (like most vampires) and was screwing the new Council leader.  
  
Cadence swigged the last of her drink. ~Night World politics suck~ she thought moodily. "What'd you think Unas would do if you found the bitch and she accidentally - fell on a stake." She snickered at the thought, smiling nastily.  
  
Small and delicate with bouncy red curls, eager blue eyes and a bright friendly smile, nasty wasn't an expression you expected to see on her face.   
  
Andromeda laughed. "Oh please, he'd kill you in less than ten seconds, not to mention what he'd do to you first."  
  
Cadence nodded. "Just a thought." She stood up. "I think I see my lunch." She sauntered away from Andromeda into the crowd, looking for a quick exit. All it had to do was look like an accident. But how did you *accidentally* kill a vampire everyone knew you hated?  
  
She found a small door, which lead her to an enclosed back alley way. Not for the first time she was immensely glad that she didn't have to suffer the heat of the Vegas sun.   
  
"Please - I - I don't have hardly - "  
  
"Give me the fucking wallet already."  
  
Cadence paused recognised the mugger's voice instantly. ~So much for using Andromeda's so called powers~  
  
Slipping closer, she watched the terrified tourists throw everything they had of value at the girl pinning him to the wall.   
  
"Don't eat me, please, don't, no - *no*!" His voice rose in terror, but the scream was cut off. Cadence chuckled, watching the girl slit his throat with her sharp nails once she had done with feeding from him.   
  
//Cadence Galena, get that girl. Do not let her get away from you// Cadence frowned at the unfamiliar mental voice in her mind. She got an uncomfortable feeling of immense power from it. //Bring her inside and I will instruct you what to do next.//  
  
"Hey, bravo," she called.  
  
Xalaria turned to look, annoyed that someone had seen her. "Who are you?" She had moved up to Cadence, trying to pin her as well. Cadence found herself filled with an unexplained rush of strength as she threw Xalaria off her, like tossing away a piece of trash.  
  
Xalaria got up, looking at her curiously. "You're a Night People. So am I. Do you know me?"  
  
Cadence could only guess she'd escaped Daybreak clutches to find out about herself. She smiled falsely, reminding herself that she hated this girl. That mental voice was *doing* something to her. She wondered if she really wanted to know who it belonged to. Someone old, probably. It certainly wasn't Unas. As far as she knew, there was no one older than him around, after Hunter Redfern's death. That was why he was the boss now.   
  
"Cadence Galena, yeah, I do. Let's go inside." She grabbed Xalaria's arm and dragged her inside the casino, waiting to be told what to do next.  
  
* * * 


End file.
